NPR 2011-04-16

Congressional Democrats 2 warn that the budget plan the House's Republican majority approved today by a vote of 235-193 won't go over well with voters. As NPR's Julie Rovner reports, critics say Americans will resist sweeping 3 changes to the Medicare and Medicaid health programs.

Not a single Democrat 1 voted for the budget plan devised by Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan. One of the key reasons: it would end the current Medicare program for people currently under the age of 55 and give them a voucher 4 to help purchase private insurance instead. And as House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi pointed 5 out, that voucher would be worth less overtime 6, so patients would pay more.

"The average senior would be forced to pay twice as much for half the benefits, as much as $20,000 per year more for some seniors."

The plan would also cut the Medicaid program for the poor by more than a third over the next ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Julie Rovner, NPR News, Washington.

While lawmakers' budget crunch 7 in Washington, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is promising 8 he'll always find the money to keep air travel as safe as possible. He is outraged 9 by four recent cases of air traffic controllers who fell asleep on the job. Appearing on NBC today, Lahood said he would work with Congress to make sure there was enough money to hire the right number of controllers and make sure they're well-trained and well-rested.

A storm system believed to have spawned 10 several tornados 11 and straight-line winds in the South overnight is blamed on at least nine deaths. There were dozens of reports of injuries. Most of the fatalities 12 were in Arkansas, where Kelly MacNeil of member station KUAR at Little Rock reports local residents are stunned 13 by the loss.

Three children were among those killed by falling trees. Tommy Jackson with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management says an 18-month-old, a six-year-old boy and an eight-year-old boy were each killed in their homes.

"Of course any there sustained situation is always certainly to hear about our children, it was a very bad, long night."

Workers are now assessing the damage by daylight, and experts are trying to determine how many tornados the storm produced. For NPR News, I'm Kelly MacNeil in Little Rock.

More demonstrations 14 today in Syria including Daraa. Thousands of people turned out staging protests to oust 15 President Bashar Alassad, whose regime is widely viewed as among the most repressive in the Middle East. Human rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed since the start of a Syrian uprising about a month ago. There is word of more confrontations 16 as well. Syrian forces have fired tear gas at protesters attempting to reach a main square in Damascus.

A suicide attack's blamed on the death of a second Afghan police chief in a month, the latest reminder 17 of the daily threats security forces face from insurgents 18 in Afghanistan.

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Gaza's Hamas rulers are spearheading a manhunt for members of a more radical 19 Islamist group, who are suspected of killing 20 a pro-Palestinian activist 21 from Italy. Sheera Frenkel reports a 36-year-old well-known figure in Gaza was found dead within hours of his abduction.

Thirty-six-year-old Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped on Thursday from Gaza City. This morning, he was found strangled to death in a small empty apartment, said Hamas police. In a video, the group threatened to kill Arrigoni unless their leader was freed from Hamas prison. They called Arrigoni an Italian hostage from an infidel state. Police said the group was linked to Salafi Islamists, who believe that Hamas is too moderate in its policies. Salafi groups have been growing in numbers in Gaza over the last few years. Friends and family of Arrigoni said they were shocked by his death. He had been living in Gaza since August, 2008. As an active member of the International Solidarity 22 Group, he organized protests for Palestinian rights and against Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. For NPR News, I'm Sheera Frenkel.

Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa's still sending oil prices climbing. It's continuing to send gas prices in the US rising as well. In an interview with ABC, President Obama says he understands the financial toll 23 on drivers, but he also says he's not so sure that tapping the nation's strategic petroleum 24 reserve is the answer.

"The reserves I think are something that we've got to be very careful about. And what we don't want to do is catch ourselves in a situation, particularly when things are uncertain in the Middle East, where we're using it now and it turns out we need more later."

President Obama in an interview with ABC.